Raised in a family of 16 children, Henrik Pontoppidan's father was a Lutheran minister, but young Pontoppidan rejected religion, studied engineering, and taught high school before finding success as a writer. His works are generally regarded as realistic but pessimistic, often bleakly political and just as often sharply critical of the church. His best-known work is the five-volume novel Lykke-Per (Lucky Peter), in which the protagonist, like the author, rejects his religious upbringing. Among the best of his shorter novels, which often dealt with political, psychological and sexual issues, is his 1887 novel The Polar Bear, about the conflict between an outspoken, free-thinking vicar from Greenland and the more closed-minded clergymen of Denmark.

Pontoppidan won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1917, for "for his authentic descriptions of present-day life in Denmark". His Nobel honors were shared with another Danish writer, Karl Gjellerup. Long after death Pontoppidan remains an influential figure in Danish humanities, respected by experts and "required reading" for students. His older brother, Morten Pontoppidan, was a respected writer of non-fiction, including a biography of Martin Luther and a history of the United States.